Notes
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, a collection of works by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited with introduction, commentary, index and maps by Christopher Tolkien.

Published on 2 October 1980.

A map of Númenor is located opposite page 168. An updated version of the map of Middle-earth is pasted to the rear endpaper. Both were designed by J.R.R. Tolkien and redrawn by Christopher Tolkien.

Details of all British editions of Unfinished Tales can be found at TolkienBooks.net.

Blurb – Dust Jacket Flap
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and comprising such various elements as Gandalf’s lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End, the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand, and an exact description of the military organisation of the Riders of Rohan. The book contains the only story that survived from the long ages of Númenor before its downfall, and all that is known of such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantíri, or the legend of Amroth.

Writing of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien said in 1955: ‘Those who enjoy the book as a “heroic romance” only, and find “unexplained vistas” part of the literary effect, will neglect the Appendices, very properly.’ Unfinished Tales is avowedly for those who, on the contrary, have not yet sufficiently explored Middle-earth, its languages, its legends, its politics, and its kings.

This collection has been edited by Christopher Tolkien, who explains in his Introduction the very various treatment these writings have demanded, and who has provided a commentary on each of the ‘Tales’. He has redrawn the map accompanying The Lord of the Rings on a larger scale and with the addition of new features and names; and reproduced the only map of Númenor that J.R.R. Tolkien ever made.